Thursday Night's Funny GOP Debate Memes & Tweets

Thursday was the night the nation anticipated for, well, weeks. Yes, that's right, the final Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa preceding the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 took place and the United States — like the exhausted group of friends with that one relentless friend who always invites himself — was finally able to get a break from the flamboyant antics of Donald Trump. Although Trump decided to instead host a fundraiser for veterans, the U.S. was not exempt from him entirely, as Thursday night's GOP debate memes and tweets hilariously included him.

Although there were certainly worries for the Fox News community and viewers about the absence of Trump and the implications therein, the debate carried on without a hitch — and with plenty of mention of Trump. Even Republican candidates found themselves in those inevitable situations of word vomit, unable to help themselves from speaking of he-who-should-not-be-named-when-voluntarily-sitting-out.

Freudian slips aside, these memes and tweets depict Thursday night's Republican debates so accurately that anyone with an ounce of imagination can convincingly pretend to have watched the event over nonchalant water cooler chitchat with colleagues come Friday. So without further ado, here are Thursday night's debates as told by memes and tweets:

It goes without saying that when memes and tweets are telling half of the U.S.' current campaign story, it's probably a pretty funny story. Expect things to come to a head, however, as the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries are just around the corner!